Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In what should come as no surprise after the success of the first installment of what fans hope to be seven Harry Potter movies (the first, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, became the second highest grossing movie of all time with nearly a billion dollars in ticket sales), the showings of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were sold out at my local theatre. This, despite the fact I live in a relatively small town, and the theatre - also remembering the first Harry Potter movie - was showing the movie on three screens. Fortunately, we had the good sense to buy our tickets to the 4 o'clock showing at 11:00 a.m.!

When we last left Harry Potter, he had finished his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was headed back to the home of his Aunt and Uncle for the summer. As the new installment opens, we can see that Harry's plight in their house has improved, but barely. And then a house elf arrives on the scene to make a bad situation even worse. Fortunately, Harry manages to get back to school almost on time. He is joined there by familiar friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, where the three begin their second year of schooling learning such helpful things as repotting mandrake roots and turning small animals into water goblets. Alas, the fun doesn't last. First a pet and then a student are found petrified, and strange goings on at Hogwarts result in innocent men being sent to prison and the threat that the school may have to close its doors. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are determined to save their friends and solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, but there is great danger for them all, especially for Harry, as they gain some surprising allies and work against time to save the day.

The actors playing the three main characters - Harry, Ron, and Hermione - are all reprising their roles from the earlier film (in fact, all three are contracted through the third movie). Daniel Radcliffe is very much Harry Potter (though perhaps a little better looking), and he's got a terrific smile. He overdoes his wide-eyed surprised look, though, and overuses it as well. Emma Watson is a creditable Hermione who has the "I'm smart and I can prove it" patter down perfectly. Her accent, however, is occasionally so strong and her diction sufficiently unclear that if you haven't read the book you won't understand some of what she is saying. In this second film, it's Rupert Grint's performance as Ron Weasley that stands out among the younger cast members. Watch him especially when he's frightened. You'll believe he's scared, but you still won't be able to help laughing.

The adult actors represent a major coup for the casting director. Richard Harris, in his last role before his death, is back as Professor Dumbledore, and Maggie Smith has a slightly larger role than last time as Professor McGonnagal. Though it's a little sad to watch Harris' scenes, it's also a joy to see him one last time. Smith, as always, is virtually flawless. Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane return as Professor Snape and Hagrid, respectively. Both are good, but I found myself wishing Rickman's role were larger. Kenneth Brannagh joins the cast as Gilderoy Lockheart, the one mistake I think was made in the casting. Though Brannagh is certainly a fine actor, he simply isn't pretty enough to play the vain, simpering, and very foolish character depicted in the book. Jason Isaacs, however, who was brought on board to play Lucious Malfoy, is cold, calculating,, frostily handsome, and delightfully bad (Isaacs has had some experience being hateful - remember the British officer who ordered a church full of people to be burned in The Patriot?). Dobby, the House Elf, is a computer generated character. With the rapid improvement in digital technology, Dobby is quite real. Thankfully, he's also nothing like another famous CGI character named Jar Jar Binks.

For those who've read J.K. Rowling's books, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets contains nothing that's not in the book. The book, however, contains much that isn't in the movie. The movie has a 2 hour and 40 minute running time, so length was doubtless a consideration when the film was edited. I personally, however, felt the loss of a few Gilderoy Lockheart scenes, and would dearly have loved to see more of Headless Nick. All in all, though, while not quite the movie the first one was, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is scary, entertaining, and just plain fun to watch.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is rated PG. There is no nudity or sexual innuendo, and no bad language. There are, however, some monsters and some scenes that could prove very frightening for the younger set. I'd like to say that no one under the age of about 10 should really see the movie. But the showing I attended was filled with kids obviously younger than that, and not a one of them cried, screamed, or said, "Mommy, I'm scared!" during the show, so if you think your kid can take it, by all means bring him. As for whether or not the movie is evil, well, why not ready Lady Liberty's essay on that very topic before passing judgment?